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CSS & HTML 5 Clueless,where should I go to learn this and how should I approach it?

Went to college and got two degrees in design(Drawing*Illustration*/Graphic design and 2d/3d Animation) and never really learned CSS or HTML5 correctly..All the CSS and HTML I learned I taught myself due to a lack of programming in my education. I feel lost. I haven't used it for 3 years and now at my job I'm given the task to do so.::

I am debating whether to learn via a college course or online tutorials. I'm skeptical about the online learning because I learn better in a classroom setting.I have to make this decision before January (spring semesters begin then)

Well, HTML5 and CSS3 are not yet fully supported in all browsers. So that's something to think about. Not that it cant be used now, but some work arounds for older browsers are needed.

If your company is willing to pay for your "education", lynda.com is a great place to learn. They use video tutorials and premium membership comes with all excercise files. I think its around $35 a month. Other than that, there are tons of free tutorials online to learn from.

If you want to go the in seat classroom route, I doubt you will find a class that specifically teaches HTML5. More the case is that most colleges teach older out of date methods. Not that you couldn't learn from a local community college, just giving you the facts.(since I learned from my local community college)

Well, HTML5 and CSS3 are not yet fully supported in all browsers. So that's something to think about. Not that it cant be used now, but some work arounds for older browsers are needed.

If your company is willing to pay for your "education", lynda.com is a great place to learn. They use video tutorials and premium membership comes with all excercise files. I think its around $35 a month. Other than that, there are tons of free tutorials online to learn from.

If you want to go the in seat classroom route, I doubt you will find a class that specifically teaches HTML5. More the case is that most colleges teach older out of date methods. Not that you couldn't learn from a local community college, just giving you the facts.(since I learned from my local community college)

My company isn't willing to fund the education. So I'm left to do this myself.

Well thats kinda selfish of them! lol They want you to learn, then they should help pay.

In any case, there is a sticky here at the top of this forum that lists tons of free online learning resources. Thats a great place to start.

Thank you. There are a few certifications at a local community college that offers the older coding languages I may have check out regardless. I will try both. I joined this forum because I just didn't really know where to turn with this issue.

Watch out on the community or other college courses though. We tend to see lots of folks that come here to ask questions about their first web site (whether during the course or just after) that are developing to 15-year old html technology, and clearly have been taught techniques that have been out of favor for about 10 years.

And on the other hand, a new site developed today in 2011 should (IMO) be written in HTML4.01 Strict (you'll get debates here - this is my opinion only) unless you have need for XHTML. And HTML5 as teed mentioned is "coming soon" but again IMO, "not prime time yet" if you're developing for the largest audience.

So bottom line, learn current HTML4.01/CSS2 standards, and plan on a rather simple transition to HTML5/CSS3 over the coming years as it becomes mainstream in browsers.

Watch out on the community or other college courses though. We tend to see lots of folks that come here to ask questions about their first web site (whether during the course or just after) that are developing to 15-year old html technology, and clearly have been taught techniques that have been out of favor for about 10 years.

And on the other hand, a new site developed today in 2011 should (IMO) be written in HTML4.01 Strict (you'll get debates here - this is my opinion only) unless you have need for XHTML. And HTML5 as teed mentioned is "coming soon" but again IMO, "not prime time yet" if you're developing for the largest audience.

So bottom line, learn current HTML4.01/CSS2 standards, and plan on a rather simple transition to HTML5/CSS3 over the coming years as it becomes mainstream in browsers.

Dave

I will probably have to contact the professor of the course( which ever I find available) and ask what version of HTML he/she would teaching.

I will probably have to contact the professor of the course( which ever I find available) and ask what version of HTML he/she would teaching.

Well it's not so much that they teach out dated versions of html, but that they teach outdated code in html. For example, many courses in local community colleges will teach you to layout your pages using tables. This is totally outdated and just plain wrong for todays web standards.

I'm not saying dont take the course either way. You will learn some valuable knowledge. Just be aware that courses like this at most higher learning institutions are usually behind times in the curriculum.

Well it's not so much that they teach out dated versions of html, but that they teach outdated code in html. For example, many courses in local community colleges will teach you to layout your pages using tables. This is totally outdated and just plain wrong for todays web standards.

I'm not saying dont take the course either way. You will learn some valuable knowledge. Just be aware that courses like this at most higher learning institutions are usually behind times in the curriculum.

All I know is I have a lot to learn.The outdated versions of html or(code)types may be helpful just to get the general understanding. I think once I have a grasp on the main points of each language I could advance very quickly. For now research is needed.

HTML5 is a huge joke. Its not going to be finished until 2022, so until then, anything in it could change. HTML5 is only a beta.
As for CSS3, instead of being a single specification, its going to be modulized. There is some color module complete already.

Learning CSS2 is a huge joke also. The official documentation is burred, deep deep in the W3C's website and its written by and for computer losers that have all the time in the world on their hands, in other words, its useless for every day people - which is probably who you are.

There are 3rd party resources such as w3schools, but they usually encourage non compliant hacks like <if IE> These target browsers, rather standards... and this is how the noobies code, so you don't want to go that way.
W3schools however can be useful for understand the flow of how stuff works.

My opinion is just look at example code and try and learn off it enough until you understand how the flow works, then jump onto W3C's HTML page and look at the elements and attributes. As for CSS 3, don't bother with the W3C's site (unless your a womanless loser with all the time in the world).

There is an official validator for HTML at validator.w3.org which will tell you if your code is valid.
There is also one for CSS2. Look it up.